Tangled in Moonlight: Unshifted (Ava and Lucas)

Chapter 353 Lucas: Aggressive Behavior

LUCAS

Five wolf bodies lie on the ground, their blood settled into pools of blood beneath them, frozen now in the snow.

My beta approaches, his face grim. He kneels beside one of the corpses, examining it with a critical eye. "You said they weren't in their right minds?"

I've seen my share of battles, but this was different. The rogues attacked with a ferocity that bordered on madness. "It wasn't natural. Almost rabid. We didn't have a chance to communicate."

I stand over the largest of the bodies, frowning. It wasn't as though we hadn't tried to bring them in alive. They just had no interest in negotiating. There isn't much we can do at that point.

Kellan's voice breaks through my thoughts. "They're only five miles from the compound."

"They were heading south," I say, watching as Kellan's shoulders visibly relax. "Not toward the pack."

It's a small comfort, but I'll take what I can get. Still, the proximity is unsettling. These rogues could have easily changed course, stumbled upon our territory. They're too close. We need to tighten our security, make sure we don't let it happen again.

I crouch down beside one of the bodies, studying it closely. "Maybe we should examine them further. There might be clues—"

Kellan shakes his head, cutting me off. "We don't have the facilities for that, Lucas. Autopsying random wolves would be a waste of resources we can't afford right now. What building are we going to take over? We can't bring dead bodies into the hospital. We don't have the room there, either."

With winter in full swing and refugees to care for, we can't spare the time or manpower for an extensive investigation over a few violent wolves. Still, the nagging feeling that we're missing something crucial gnaws at me.

"What if they were just traumatized?" Kellan suggests after a moment. "Starving, maybe. Could have gone feral."

It's a reasonable theory. We've seen it before—wolves pushed to their limits, reverting to pure instinct. Especially as rogues without a pack. But as I look at the bodies sprawled before us, something doesn't add up.

"It's possible," I concede, "but I don't think that's it." I gesture to the nearest corpse. "Look at them. They're young, strong. Their bodies are well-fed. This wasn't desperation."

"Then why attack without provocation? It doesn't make sense."

"We'll never know now."

The finality of my words hangs in the air. Five lives snuffed out, and for what? Such a waste of life.

My gaze falls back to the bodies at our feet. Their eyes are still open, glazed over in death, but I can't shake the memory of the feral gleam they held during the attack. It was as if something had stripped away their humanity, leaving nothing but raw, uncontrolled aggression.

you want to do with the bodies?" Kellan asks, rising to his feet as he brushes snow off

here, that's for certain. But disposing of

move the bodies several miles out, away from our territory. They'll have to use a truck. Maybe burn them out

"I'll get it organized."

as though reports of aggressive rogues have been

questions pile up in my head, leaving me to second-guess leaving these bodies behind. But we

me, eyebrow raised in question. "Once we've taken care of this, I want to double our

* * *

of the front door opening cuts through

Ava.

drips down my chest as I grab a towel, hastily wrapping it around my waist. The tile is cold beneath my feet as I stride into the living

snowflakes melting in her golden hair, tied back into a ponytail. Her cheeks are flushed from the cold, blue eyes bright. Something in my chest

your shower short," she says, a

me, fitting perfectly into the curve

I

the sound brightening my day. "Lucas! You're getting soap everywhere." She shoves at my chest,

go, watching as she shrugs off

don't you join me? I was just getting

one side. But then she nods, a slow smile

the mirror. I turn

my gaze. I drink in the sight of her, my eyes tracing the curves of her body as she steps under the spray

The shower suddenly feels much smaller with both of

through the fog

drag my eyeballs off her ass and to her face. "What do you

face me, water droplets clinging to her

unsure how to respond. The memory of those five dead wolves flashes through my mind, their unseeing eyes staring up at the

I say, reaching for the shampoo bottle. "Just missed you, that's

doesn't press the issue, turning back

massage her scalp, and I feel some of the tension leave her body. She leans back against me, and I have to

terrible liar, you know that?"

freeze, my hands still tangled in

"You don't have